Blake on a roll

That's the sense you have after saving three match points before coming back to not only win the match, but the tournament, too.

So facing a couple of set points on Tuesday didn't seem so bad.

Especially the way Blake's playing.

Blake, of Fairfield, continued his summer surge, saving two set points on his way to a 7-6 (6), 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Michael Russell on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court.

"It's one of those things where for me, when I'm winning a lot of matches the way I have been, I get to 4-all, 5-all, 6-all in sets, I just feel like I'm going to win them," said Blake, who staved off elimination in the third round before capturing the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament last week in New Haven.

"I just have that confidence. There's really no substitute for the way I was winning matches. To do those kinds of things just gives me more and more confidence. So I feel great right now."

The sixth-seeded Blake's confidence grew even more after rallying from a 6-4 deficit in the opening-set tiebreaker on Tuesday.

After Russell committed an unforced error on his first set point, the 65th-ranked American blasted a 122-mph serve up the middle that Blake managed to get back near the service line that Russell hit into the net to tie the score at 6.

"He got a little tight at 6-5. He maybe respected my speed a little too much and tried to make his forehand too good," said Blake, who will play Fabrice Santoro in the second round on Thursday."That's sometimes what running down balls can do. It can help you in the big moments."

It can help sway the momentum, too.

After squandering seven break points in Russell's first three service games of the match, Blake earned his first set point when Russell committed his 13th unforced error of the set.

Blake, who won his tour-leading 34th hardcourt match of the year, closed the opening set with an overhead winner.

"Obviously, if I would have won the first set tiebreaker, it would have changed things a little bit," said Russell, who had never faced Blake in a tour-level event, but had won all three previous encounters on the challenger circuit.

"James, confidence-wise, he's coming off a great summer, but I'm sure he's a little bit fatigued. To win that first set mentally would have been a big difference in the match."

Instead, the two traded breaks to open the second set before Blake surged ahead with another break to take a 3-1 lead when his line-drive backhand up the line was too much for Russell to handle.

Blake, who connected on 74 percent of his first serves during the second set, grabbed a two-set advantage with a 116-mph service winner on set point.

Blake's torrid serving continued in the third set when he smacked six of his 13 aces - his last, which registered at 114 mph, helped send the set into a tiebreaker.

After Russell reeled off four straight points to take a 4-2 lead in the tiebreaker, Blake closed the match by winning the final five points, including his 108-mph service winner on match point.

Blake is trying to surpass his best finish in the Open -- he reached the quarterfinals in 2005 and 2006.

"I'm playing some of my best tennis," said Blake, who ripped 47 winners compared to 36 unforced errors. "I definitely think I'm coming in here very confident."